Wednesday, 9 July 2014

The year 2014 has witnessed a 40% increase in the amount being invested into renewable energy in the UK, pushing the total figure being pumped into independent commercial scale projects up to £300 million.

This growth was revealed by Smartest Energy – Great Britain’s leading purchaser of energy generated by the independent sector – as part of the Energy Entrepreneurs Report. The report illustrates a total production of 50kw of energy from 2,930 projects powered by companies outside of the major energy firms (the Big Six).

During 2013, there were an additional 843 independent renewable energy projects implemented across the UK, at an average cost of £353,000. The 40% increase in the spend also resulted in a similar growth in terms of capacity. Although it is onshore wind farms where the greatest capacity is held, it was in the independent solar sector where the most impressive growth of 150% was recorded. This comes at a time when controversial government plans seek to reduce their support to large scale solar farms.